Monday, September 3, 2007

Transformers Pinoy Style

Today's Thought: "One shall stand, one shall fall" - Optimus Prime

Thanks to my friend Pam for forwarding these pics - trully Pinoy style. I love to share with you all.


The buses can be a menace in EDSA but they sure saved me a lot of times whenever they fly their way off to coastal road, the Mother of all traffic. I learned how to sleep standing up, how to sqeeze in, hold on to a steel bar for balance, pay the conductor and try to review for the exams - all at the same time, while the bus jerks off the highway.


Tatak Pinoy. Miniature copies of these are popular souveneir gifts to friends living abroad and foreigners who are fascinated by this means of transportation. Back in my town, hometown of Sarao jeep, no undecorated jeepney can be seen. You cannot have passengers if yours is not as colorful and well adorned as the rest are. The students simply won't bother. The turn off though is the load music. I swear I thought I lost my sense of hearing more than twice. And for the upgraded version, check out the aircon jeeps in Makati. Not as festive but definitely convenient.


A better alternative to buses and are most common for short distance travel. Just pray that the fx actually has a working ac and I'd rather not take the middle seat for the horror of being squeezed with 3 other passengers. It is really most uncomfortable pero kelangan kumita ni manong...



Our baranggay never had this transpo. But watching the police news on tv, you see these Brgy. Patrol cars typically loaded with illegal stuffs the Barangay Tanods seized from poor vendors or with robbers, snatchers, rugby boys or men and women with ashen faces (the latter usually caught skulking the dark corners of red districts).



This must be God's answers to every working parents' wish to make sure someone drives their kids to and from school. It'll be just a waste of fuel and an addition to the monster traffic that requires a lot of effort to do this job on your own. Unless of course, you are the bus driver. But here, parents are so lucky to excuse themselves earlier than the usual lunch break to fetch their kids and return a bit late coz they drove their kids back to school and get away with it.



Oh my gosh. This gives the same level of challenge and difficulty as the bus. It also tests your endurance to a variety of nauseating stench from Pasay to Monumento and back. Good thing the MRT is way better than LRT. I love the convenience of MRT and the thought that I can just go to Shangri-la and Ayala all in 20minutes. MRT2 is not that bad either although I took it just once. But my heart goes to the people who have to take the old train (the one that passes through Manila - Buendia, I forgot the name). Really a pity.



I have tons of cab stories. I have a love and hate relationship with them. I hate them mostly during rush hour when they choose their passengers, ask for extra payment because the gasoline is expensive, or because the area where I'm going to is traffic. Hell, I too am affected with the price hikes you know. And where in Manila can you find a place that is not congested with traffic? come on man! But I have one experience that I will never forget. I left my laptop inside the taxi and he, with his friend driver, returned it back to me! See, I took the cab with my friend and I was the 1st one to get off. After the driver dropped my friend, he went to the gas station and saw a thin black folder. He realized that it was a laptop and decided to call his friend for help. It was already pass 3am. They went back to my friend's house, waited until it was past 5am so as not to wake him up so early and asked him to tell them where my address was again. Di daw matutumbasan ng pera ang kunsensya. Never asked for anything in return and would not even accept the gas money I assumed he used driving back and forth to my and my friends' place. His friend driver, he proudly tells me, returned a huge amount of dollars from a balikbayan they picked up at the airport. Went all the way back to Bulacan to return it. There are still good manong drivers out there.



Only in the Philippines. They come in different shapes, some are bigger and carry up to 5 passengers comfortably while the regular ones can have 4 passengers at one go. I grew up with these tricyles. The colors represent their organization and the scope of their route. Pretty clever. Their toughest competitor are the pedicabs - nature friendly, cheaper for the driver since no gas is needed but requires all the driver's musles to move through the streets (hence its more expensive than tric) and a most favorable ride if your area is flooded.

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